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United States-European Commission Urban Freight Twinning Initiative: Compendium of Project Summaries
Overview of Second Annual Urban Freight Roundtable at 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting

Pilot Research Europe

CIVITAS DESTINATIONS

CIVITAS DESTINATIONS is one of the three biggest projects on sustainable mobility recently funded by the European Union. The project involves 30 partners from 10 European countries and 4 cities in China. The main objective is to achieve sustainable mobility for residents and tourists by working toward measures and innovative solutions in the following sectors: car-independent lifestyle; clean fuels and vehicles, collective and flexible public transport; demand management; integrated sustainable mobility plan; innovative crowd-sourcing and public involvement tools; intelligent transport systems for access control and criteria; and urban freight distribution and city logistics.

map of Europe marked to show CIVITAS DESTINATIONS pilot locations: Elba, Madeira, Valetta, Rethymno, Limassol, and Gran Canaria

CIVITAS DESTINATIONS pilot locations in Europe.
Source: CIVITAS DESTINATIONS.

Project Type

Research, Pilot, and Policy

Period of Performance

September 2016 - September 2020

Project Site(s)

Five popular European tourist destinations: Madeira, Portugal; Crete, Greece; Gran Canarias, Spain; Cyprus; and Elba, Italy

Websites

www.civitas.eu/destinations

www.enclose.eu

Contact

Giorgio Ambrosino
Transportation Planner IV
DESTINATIONS Innovation and ITS Lead; Elba Site Manager
MemEx, Italy
+39 0586 211646
Giorgio.Ambrosino@memexitaly.it

Challenges Addressed

  • Urban Quality.
  • Cost-effectiveness and integration of last-mile logistics services.
  • Reduction of emissions and energy consumption.
  • Traffic congestion in urban areas.
  • Safety and public use of urban spaces.

Expected Outcomes

Each of the six CIVITAS DESTINATIONS cities will develop an integrated Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan (SULP) and a general Mobility Plan (SUMP-Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) following a common methodology set up at the European Union level (IEE-ENCLOSE project) to address the various aspects of urban freight distribution. Additionally, these cities will begin to utilize different measures/services concerning last and first miles, delivery with Enhanced Environmentally Friendly vehicles (i.e., vehicles that comply with the most stringent exhaust emissions standard), special services (hotel laundry services), and new access regulations set by the local authorities in favor of low-carbon delivery schemes.

Stakeholder Involvement

Local and regional authorities and chambers of commerce are directly involved in the project. They are responsible for all the site measures implementation and evaluation. Additional partners include university and research institutes (focusing on innovative solutions) and transport operators and consultancy companies (focusing on the implementation of specific services for last-mile delivery and schemes at site level). The local authority will serve as the facilitator for the various transport operators and shop keeper associations in order to:

  • Set urban freight regulation scenario (time/space), incentives for "green delivery vehicles" and for access in relation to load factor/unloading time window/vehicle typology.
  • Set enforcement schemes making existing infrastructure available (Information & Communication Technology included).
  • Set agreement among the shopkeepers for selecting a common goods provider, reducing the own account transport and evaluating the role of urban distribution center as final delivery destination.
  • Design a specific plan devoted to city logistics solutions.
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